Business Certificate Replacement in case of Damage or Loss

ERC (Enterprise Registration Certification) or Business Certificate is a paper or electronic document recording information about business registration issued by the Business Registration Authority to the enterprise. Therefore, this is an extremely important document that enterprises need to preserve throughout their operations and development. However, there will be unavoidable incidents that cause businesses to damage or lose their business certificates. In the article below, Viet An Law will guide enterprises through the procedure for applying for business certificate replacement in case of damage or loss.

Can an enterprise with a damaged or lost Business Certificate be re-issued?

A business certificate is a very important document because it stores the business registration information and is one of the necessary conditions for an enterprise to conduct business activities.

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 27 of Law on Enterprises 2020:

“2. In case the Business Certificate is lost, damaged, or destroyed in any other form, the enterprise shall be re-issued a Business Certificate and must pay a fee in accordance with the provisions of law.”

Thus, in case the ERC of enterprise is lost, damaged, or destroyed in any other way, the enterprise will be re-issued the Certificate and must pay a fee according to the provisions of law. The re-issuance of the Business Certificate and the Certificate of Change of Business Content is guided by Article 68 of Decree 01/2021/ND-CP effective from January 4, 2021.

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Therefore, when a business’s ERC is damaged or lost, it will be reissued by the Business Registration Office after completing all procedures and paying fees as prescribed by law.

Application for a Business Certificate replacement in case of damage or loss

Clause 1, Article 68 of Decree 01/2021/ND-CP stipulates the dossier when carrying out procedures to re-issue Business Certificates as follows:

• Application for re-issuance of ERC according to form Appendix II-18 issued with Appendix II Circular 01/2021/BKHDT.
• Power of Attorney for the representative to carry out business registration procedures and a copy of the authorized person’s legal documents (in case the enterprise authorizes another individual to carry out the procedures).

It can be seen that the application for re-issuance of a Business Certificate (ERC) when it is damaged or lost is quite simple and is specifically regulated in the provisions of law.

The application for re-issuance of the ERC will be submitted to the Business Registration Authority: Business Registration Office under the Department of Planning and Investment in the province where the enterprise has its head office.

Fee for re-issuance of Business Certificate

Pursuant to the regulations on state fees for business registration issued with Circular No. 47/2019/TT-BTC, the fee for re-issuing a Business Certificate is currently VND 50,000/issuance.

Note that if an enterprise applies for a re-issuance of the ERC online, it will be exempted from the business registration fee as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 5 of Circular 47/2019/TT-BTC. This regulation is issued to encourage businesses to carry out administrative procedures and business registration procedures via social networks, thereby simplifying administrative procedures and processes as well as making it more convenient for businesses to carry out business registration procedures.

Deadline for re-issuance of ERC

In case the Business Registration Office receives a complete application following the law, it will consider re-issuing the Business Certificate within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the complete application.

In case the dossier is invalid, the enterprise will send a written request to amend, supplement the dossier, or refuse to re-issue the Business Certificate to the enterprise. In addition, the enterprise must amend, and supplement the dossier according to the request of the Business Registration Office and re-apply within the allowed time limit. If the enterprise has not re-submitted the dossier by the deadline, the Business Registration Office will issue a decision to refuse to re-issue the Business Certificate of the enterprise.

Procedures for registering to change a Business Certificate when it is lost, or damaged

In addition to the procedure for re-issuing the Business Certificate, when the Certificate is lost or damaged, the enterprise can also carry out the procedure for registering to change/ adjust ERC.

Specifically, enterprises can carry out procedures to change email, update address information, phone number, fax number, or website at the Business Registration Office to be granted a new ERC.

Dossier for registration change ERC procedures

The dossier when carrying out the procedure for registering changes to business registration contents includes the following documents:

• Notice of change in business registration content;
• Authorization letter for the representative to carry out business registration procedures and a copy of the authorized person’s legal documents (in case the enterprise authorizes another individual to carry out the procedures).

The enterprise completes the application and submits it to the Business Registration Office where the enterprise has its head office. The new business certificate will be issued by the Business Registration Office to the enterprise within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the complete and valid application.

The fee for this procedure is the same as the fee for re-issuing a Business Certificate, which is VND 50,000/issuance.

Thus, when an enterprise accidentally damages or loses its ERC, it can conduct the following two procedures:

• Re-issuance of ERC
• Change business registration information.

Above is the consulting content of Viet An Law on business certificate replacement in case of damage or loss. If clients have any questions or need support on consulting on establish a company or other procedures related to business registration, please contact Viet An Law for specific advice!